where's robert lighthizer. does he want to send the president of united states in without everything button-down? shawn: i think robert lighthizer has been liaising with the president closely. there no surprise he will drop on donald trump. previous a slight wilbur ross and steven mnuchin who have tried to negotiate deals with chinese have been undercut by president trump. bob lighthizer knows that. he is working closely with the president to do something. the chinese do not want wiggle room. they want to know what they will sign when xi jinping shows up. the problem is some of these issues are too big for ministers like lighthizer and xi jinping's emissary to make decisions on. it takes leaders. david: great reporting, as you will have to keep doing for a while. reporting from washington. now is get a check on the markets. we turn to emma chandra. emma: risk on for u.s. equities on that deal you were just discussing. talks between u.s. and china seem to be going well with regards to a trade deal. we are lookin

so ambassador lighthizer, they're smart and well-versed in china. but are there potential side effects for american industry that they have not thought free? potentially, we will see that when the texas deal is released. i think james makes a really good point that what happens after the texas deal comes out? because we haven't -- we don't know what's in the deal, this deal has managed to be all things to everybody. until the details of it are revealed and you know, it seemed logical that once we know the text, there will be more opposition to it. there's the potential for congressional opposition, figures like chuck schuler and marco rubio have been tough on the president, on china or some fears from the business community or wall street. so balancing all of those interests is obviously a tall order from any kind of deal. and then, you know, the other point here is that in fact a lot of the structural reforms that we're talking about, you know, probably won't and indeed couldn't be accomplished in just one deal, right? there will be a future of con

this is what lighthizer said. i don't know when that will be. she has been very cooperative in the relationship with bob lighthizer and others has been great. we are ready to vote. we would love to vote, as soon as we get a green light. reporter: why is it important for the fed to be viewed as independent? on trade, is the administration willing to roll back the tariffs on china upon the signing of a deal as china wants? or is the administration demanding all tariffs remain in place and they will rollback over time if china is shown to comply? mr. kudlow: i can't be specific because it is part of the enforcement discussion and continues. so i just can't be specific. we'll wait and see. reporter: on fed independence, the administration keep saying it is important that the fed to be independent. why is it important for the fed to be viewed as independent? mr. kudlow: i think independent central banks are a good thing. it is a tradition. i think around the world, you know, for example, countries with independent central banks tend to have much lowe

he is travelling to beijing with his trade chief robert lighthizer.s is the 10th round of talks. talk us through what is ahead. this is the 10th round of talks. talk us through what is aheadm this is the 10th round of talks. talk us through what is ahead. it is double digits now that steven mnuchin is big very optimistic about the prospect of a deal being done not after this meeting but after the meeting that's due next week when his chinese counterpart goes to washington dc. i have to say, steve nugent has always been the one optimistic about the prospect of a deal. —— steve mnuchin. the man who has talked about the importance not of doing a deal but enforcing a deal is less optimistic. what we are hearing is the chinese are willing to give more ground on cloud computing, letting american companies coming here. robert lighthizer has been talking about progress in ip protection. there is also talk about how they enforce this deal if it happens. robert lighthizer has been sceptical about this and the chinese seem to be resisting. they have concerns abo

robert lighthizer is optimistic. , exploringing at it it. we will do the best we can if that becomes necessary. >> do you believe security is more important in trade? look, i think they are both essential. in a funny way i totally support him and his efforts to try to solve this border crisis and the issue of border security. it is not an easy thing to do. it may not be cost-free, i understand that, but i don't think it is one or the other. security,ms of border in addition to the humanitarian problems, the drug trafficking problems, they are economic issues. you are flooding south texas, new mexico, arizona, california -- for the local economies it is very disruptive. america is a humane country. ,e want to do the best we can even though i think we are running short of facilities, frankly. someone about these things. have become the two intertwined, trade, safety, security, hard to separate them out. i don't think the president was choosing one or the other. wand, could wave a magic ,e just need immigration reform and we have some awfully g

line,t going line by the way lighthizer does things. he is a brilliant guy. you've a bunch of old reagan guys in the trump white house who are still kicking it. i marvel at his energy. they have for the first time acknowledged that we have a point. several points. i think that has led to, you know, good negotiations. good negotiations. i was at the dinner in argentina, the buenos aires g20 dinner. i watch the chemistry between the presidents. it was fascinating. i hadn't seen them together. president xi wasn't saying no we didn't, no we didn't. he was open to listening. at the lower levels, we heard that. that's great progress. that's great progress. i understand there is different views about the president and his negotiating style. i understand all that. i'm just saying in one particular area he has taught me something about negotiating. reporter: do you think the chinese will extend their visit? mr. kudlow: you know, that's a good question, because they might. there is no law against it. we'll see. thank you. great points. linda: and thank you so much for

my dear friend bob lighthizer has been guardedly optimistic. lighthizer is the best trade attorney, best trade negotiator i have ever seen, and he and i are antiques, relics from the reagan years, i love that, both lighthizer and i are reagan antiques. we worked together 35-years ago, i was 13 years old. [laughter] bob: but you have seen progress? mr. kudlow: yes, we have made progress. a tricky business, it has to be a great deal. it has to be the right deal. it has to be an enforceable deal, and it has to cover the structural issues like technology and ip and a cyber hacking, and then of course the commodities, the tariffs and non-tariffs. we have made enormous progress. we continued that last week when they were here. they have been teleconferencing this week.we have made enormous they continue to make progress. i cannot say the deal is done. it is not done. there are things that need to be covered. so am i confident? i will just say i will play this , from the optimistic side. but there are issues that have to be done. bob the economy and w

as you know we made a lot of progress but the deal is not done secretary mnuchin and ambassador lighthizer are going over there next week. after that deal, the china stop trade negotiators are going here the following week i hope additional progress will be made. i am cautiously optimistic about the outcome for a deal but, but, your point is well taken. china's economy is slumping and has been for quite some time the u.s. economy as i say is in this prosperity cycle with no end insight. so we believe that does give us some leverage if you will, we believe also that china may be open to a lot of good trader forms. we'll see, i don't want to make a clear forecast as i say, head wave looks pretty good but you know, i guess and i think the president would agree with this. they need a good deal even more than we need a good deal but, we would like a deal that works for both countries and increases economic growth for both countries and hence around the world. so let's keep an open mind, i think we are moving in the right direction on that one. >> larry -- >> larry made a point that's very valua

lighthizer. shawn touched on this.nistration, they are facing heat from capitol hill republicans who want the terrace completely rescinded. facing intense lobbying efforts from the business community. the president signaling he might keep in part some of those tariffs, as a potential enforcement mechanism, giving the chinese until about 2025 to make tdo with what they say they want to do. the bottom line, that is the policy angle. political implications are twofold. first, the president is getting some political advice to wrap this up with china. you have a potential recession on the horizon. wrap this up with china. it will juice the markets and you can head into 2020 with another major deal. and then the reverse psychology prognosis, which is no, use china as a political pinata heading into 2020, attack them to win back some independents that will be crucial in states like michigan and ohio this cycle. romaine: talk to me a little more about the business case here. we are more comments from trump, saying we are "roun

us treasury secretary steven mnuchin and trade chief robert lighthizer head to beijing on tuesday asmies continue tussle over trade. president trump postponed a planned increase in tariffs set for march 1. let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. it's nice to see you again. back in singapore. what do you think of the expectations now? that's right, it's something like the 10th round of trade negotiations, would you believe it? trying to avoid a full—blown trade war. we no significant issues are still unresolved, which is why, of course, they keep on reading. both sides we know are eager to reach an agreement, but the possibility of course remains that president donald trump would potentially walk away from the negotiating table with china if he isn't satisfied with how talks are progressing. in fact, steven mnuchin, leading that negotiation, he reportedly said the talks are nearing a point where they would either produce a dealer and with no agreement. he will be heading to blazing with robert lighthizer shortly on tuesday with the chinese vice

i want to thank ambassador lighthizer and steve, all of you, peter, wilbur. how is the agricultural? >> looking forward, mr. president. pres. trump: especially in lighthizer has been working 24 hours a day along with your representatives. they have been working very hard. do you have something to say? >> i would say we have made a lot of headway. we have a great partner in the vice premier. i think his commitment to reform in china is the reason this has a chance. we will see. there are still some major issues left, but we are certainly making more progress than we would have thought when we started. pres. trump: steve. >> we appreciate the hard work on both sides. we appreciate that we have been there and you have been here many times. we look forward to try to bring this to closure. pres. trump: what about peter? >> i think i told my chinese work thethat they longest in the hardest. the best. pres. trump: the great larry kudlow has been doing a terrific job. >> i think making headway is terrific. making headway is terrific. pres. trump: that is the shortest

lighthizer is here for sort of the end game. he would like to see a deal.esterday, when president trump met with the chinese negotiator, lighthizer said there was a lot more work to be done. i think he offered that dose of reality. caroline: dose of reality also coming to china. when you are looking at the train numbers, you are saying that everyone kind of once a deal done. when you are looking at the measures and showing how much imports-exports have been falling, and negative territory, seeing the monthly trade balance coming down. from a power perspective, do you think some of the will of the u.s. corporate's, the ip, those elements, could be done with china because of pressure on their economy. i think chinese corporate's will still be focused on these issues. in line with what the u.s. government wants and going what the chinese government wants. that?ould change we are not right now at a crisis in u.s.-china relations. that madereal push trade with china radioactive in , alternatively, actual concrete steps that make u.s. businesses feel that china i

lighthizer says there are still major issues in the trade talks. coming up, with israel the elections around the corner and u.s. presidential elections a year away, has facebook done enough to right what went wrong on its platforms in previous votes? we discussed next. on you can listen to us bloomberg radio, the bloomberg app, and in the u.s. sirius xm. ♪ caroline: fresh off another case of facebook user data winding up shouldn't,obably they were on the defensive again, telling abc news the company is still looking into a report that millions of user data was accessible on amazon cloud services, and it took time to express his confidence in the social network's election security. >> at this point i think we have the most advanced systems of any government or company in the world for preventing the kind of tactics that russia and no other -- and othertried countries have tried in 2016. there is no one single thing we can do, now we have put this in place don't have a can't even try. caroline: facebook also announced they will restrict foreign elect

trying tohave been figure that out, and bob lighthizer has been looking at some structures.his is a key element of a trade deal for the trump administration. they have to make sure that china lives up to their commitments or else face consequences for the tariffs, so there have been some different mechanisms that have been talked wouldin terms of how that work. the chinese worry would be that they were giving up some sovereignty. they do not want the u.s. to be judge, jury, and executioner here. they want to have some say in it. this structure sounds a lot like an embassy to me, is one thing that is being talked about. they have also talked about joint panels. bob lighthizer has talked about a series of different meeting schedules where, every month, officials meet every quarter, sort of more senior officials meet, and twice a year ministers , meet to review progress. but we are still waiting for all of these details. sometimes when we hear raises more questions, like today, then -- then what it actually answers. emily: meantime, chinese officials called a meeting with execu

mnuchin andsteven robert lighthizer will be going to beijing next tuesday. is this all over but the shouting? shawn: we have been in this end game for a while. we know they are getting close to something. we do not know when the end of the end game will come, but this is a great time when they are getting closer. we are also hearing a move to try to wrap this up, to get a draft deal done by the end of may. the hope is robert lighthizer and steven mnuchin in beijing next week will now down a few things. that will cause a return visit the week after i the chinese vice premier -- the week after by the chinese vice premier. then there may be an announcement of a provisional deal. that would clear the way for assigning summit between the leaders in the weeks afterwards. let's get and anderson. there is a brouhaha over the white house ends up eating -- the white house and subpoenas. what is the white house think they can resist subpoenas? anna: this will begin the white -- the new front between the white house and the house of representatives. so far the white hou

there's a lot of headway being made -- as in bassett are lighthizer --ambassador lighthizer would tell you. there's a lot of headway being made. there may be more soon. we are not there yet. we are not there yet, but we have made a heck of a lot of progress. this is larger on scale than anything in the u.s.-china trade history. i think that is a good thing. i want to -- i don't want to make a prediction or forecast, but we have gotten closer, we are still working on the structural issues, technology, transfers, ownership, enforcement is crucial, lowering barriers to buy and sell agriculture and industrial commodities, it is all on the table. i've said this before. i participated in a lot of this and will continue. it is just a grand scale negotiation. i myself always try to play these things on the cautiously optimistic side. i guess that is my nature. i'm a happy warrior. got to be the right deal for the united states. and it has to be enforceable. >> in the meantime, there has been a lot of tariffs and other issues that have hurt some american businesses, some american farmers. is th

robert lighthizer is a guy who knows his stuff.ment he is the right guy in washington to lead these talks. david: very experienced trade negotiator. thanks to walter todd and shawn donnan and michael mckee of bloomberg news. now we turn to bloomberg first word news. billionaires in france are pledging to help restore the notre dame cathedral after the devastating fire. arnore no family -- the family pledged millions. notre dame has been under renovation for some time. ready forn is getting his first summit with russia's president vladimir putin. a south korean newspaper is saying the two will meet in vladivostok. they're likely to discuss nuclear disarmament talks between north korea and the u.s. called forrepeatedly sections against north korea to be called back. sports, quarterback wilson of the seattle seahawks has agreed on a four year, $140 million contract extension. $55deal is set to include a million signing bonus as well. not a bad deal. global news 24 hours a day, on air and @tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 j

trade representative robert lighthizer's offices. breaking news at any moment. mr. lighthizer will be meeting with the japanese trade delegation at the trade representative's office. it comes ahead of japanese prime minister shinzo abe's visit to washington tomorrow. according to agricultural secretary sonny purdue, mr. lighthizer wants to work out a temporary deal immediately to reduce tariffs of importing u.s. agriculture that goes to japan. we will keep you posted on that. >>> to the dow jones industrials. i just mentioned it's erased about 200 points of its earlier losses, making quite a comeback in this final hour. currently we are down about 85 points, had been down more than 286 points. this is the second day in a row that the dow jones industrials in the red and it is currently on track to close lower for the whole week. but the perpetrator behind the dow's declines today and it started in stuart varney's hour, and he talked a lot about it, is 3m. minnesota mining and manufacturing. you know, we don't just assume you know about these companies. this is a com

has a bob lighthizer history. he is pretty tough on this. like to keep them in place until we can say at some point in the future the chinese are complying. hours on them, and you go into negotiation like that and it is going to be difficult to persuade the other side. david: the question was whether this was an agreement to have further negotiations because basically it will go on and on. to be thehat seems fallback position, to kick the can down the road if china stimulus can boost the party enough to keep the rest of the world floating, why are you arguing about this? alix: thank you very much for joining us. take a look at the wto and what they are looking at in terms of the forecast on trade, lowering their overall growth forecast about 3.9%. for this year they are predicting 3.7%. general of the wto talked about that yesterday. the downwardion of trend is due to increased certainties in the market. the biggest chunk of uncertainty in the market drawing china's attention. still with us, eric freedman of u.s. bank wealth management. is i

lighthizer and the u.s. delegation are scheduled to be in beijing next week, followed by a trip to washington. i thought we'd start by discussing briefly the elements of the negotiation and then we can move from there into a more general discussion on where you see these talks going. so, we'll define those four elements as structural reform, ipr, subsidies, tech transfer, treatment of soes, et cetera. commitments by china to purchase additional u.s. goods. the timing of rollback of tariffs by the u.s. and china. then lastly, enforcement. how will the agreement be enforced by both sides? let me start with adam. adam, you wrote a piece last month about china's new foreign investment law that addresses many of the structural issues. a lot of questions were raised about whether that will, in fact, improve conditions for u.s. investors on the ground. in your coverage of the negotiations, how do you see these structural issues shaping up? where should we expect to see progress? what are the most difficult issues?

my dear friend bob lighthizer's been guardedly optimistic. he's the best trade attorney, the best trade negotiator i've ever seen, and he and i are antiques, we're relics from the reagan years. i love that, bolton and lighthizer or and i are, like, reagan antiques. we worked 35 some odd years ago. i was 13 years old -- [laughter] i was the associate director of omb. [laughter] >> but have you seen progress? >> yeah. we've made good progress. i mean, that's -- i don't want to predict. look, it's tricky business. it's got to be the a great deal. you've heard the president say that. it's got to be a great deal, it's got to be the right deal, it's got to be an enforceable deal, and it has to cover the structural issues on technology and ip and cyber hacking. and, of course, the commodities, the tariffs and nontariffs. we have made nor mouse progress. we continued that progress last week when they were here. they've been on teleconferencing this week. god, it's already thursday, yeah. they've been teleconferencing. they continue to make progress.

we are expecting steven mnuchin and robert lighthizer to be in beijing the week of april 29.he we are expecting chinese premier to fly to the u.s. the following week. after that we are expecting a deal to be announced when he is in washington. what we are then expecting to see is the two presidents will go to a signing ceremony somewhere, we do not know the location yet. and they will sign off on this deal towards the end of may. that is the plan according to the sources in the u.s. some changese seen in progress particularly around the question of -- we heard this would be a two-way enforcement deal and it would be repercussions on both sides if they failed to live up to their commitment through this deal. that has gone a long way to calling the concerns here in china. there are still big question marks over the question of tariffs and to what extent they will be rolled back. of course we had reporting suggests in the u.s. has asked china to ship its retaliatory tariffs on to other goods so they can sell to u.s. farmers. yes, more details in the timeframe. it seems like we a

i have to give a lot of credit to ambassador lighthizer. he negotiated the deal and architecting what kind of deal he thought would appeal to the constituents. what we're seeing with the deal is it's something that is a world class trade agreement, great for farmers and industry and great for technology. it's all of these things that will allow america to be independent. >> laura: we have the sound bite on msnbc, a reporter there. this is what he just said last couple days about the usmca. let's watch. >> talking about the president and his inability to see humanity. he's very easily able to see the economics of stories like this one. you look at what has happened with the u.s. mexico canada trade deal, it's falling apart. the president's twitter feed as a guide here. that may well be what spurred the president to make this threat. >> laura: he was talking about closing the border there. he brought up the close the border issue because the usmca is "falling apart." is there any truth to that? >> no. the future that i love, we built in a 16-

to find a are trying way to bridge the gap between nancy pelosi, and robert lighthizer, trying to findto put more tea into the mexican labor standards. the thinking is the standards are a lot lower, more incentive to move a factory there. if you raise them, it is good for workers and maybe stops the bleeding of jobs to the south. our colleagues have a story on to put ay on this push side deal together that would add some teeth. in particular, exempt individual facilities from a trade deal, if they don't meet the conditions. in other words, you would not get the preferential zero tariff if you are not playing by the rules. one to watch in particular. sherrod brown is an interesting bridge politician. he agrees with trump on a lot of things regarding trade. he is from ohio, a big swing state. amanda: on the canadian side of the border, concerns about ongoing steel and aluminum terrace, a sense that that could be a sticking point. are we far from ratification? not far from an election year in the u.s. is this a risk? josh: they been ratcheting up pressure here in canada. october, ittion i

ambassador lighthizer, he has been working 24 hours a day along with your representatives. really working very hard. let's see what it leads to. do you have something to say? >> i would say we have made a lot of headway. we have a great partner in the vice premier. he has become a friend and i think his commitment to reform in china is the reason things have changed. there are still some major issues left, but we are certainly making more progress than we thought when we had started. we appreciate the hard work on both sides and we appreciate that you have been here many times and we look forward to trying to bring this to closure. i am going to quote my chinese friends when they say the last mile of the marathon is the longest and the hardest. >> making headway is terrific. making headway is terrific. trump: is there anything else you want to say? thank you all very much. we are making a lot of progress. reporter: [indiscernible] they will speak to my lawyers and speak to the attorney general. thank you. how soon before we can judge the trade deal? president trump: i think

this is a fight that has gone on for several decades and the man leading the fight, robert lighthizere. is this the right way to tackle the deficit for the us? to go after countries like japan and china? certainly not. japan's position would be to remain in a multilateral trading system which it has aborted for many years. in recent yea rs, has aborted for many years. in recent years, since president trump was president, it had a more combative trade as we saw with china —— supported for many years. we have seen —— supported for many years. we have seen it with the eu and with japan as well. do you need one right now? i could certainly use one. coffee is one of the world's most popular drinks and the world's most popular drinks and the market is rapidly growing thanks to the rising number of middle—class consumers. dubai is one place that wa nts to consumers. dubai is one place that wants to cash in on our caffeine addiction, repeating a trick it is already performing with tea. the arab world's love affair with coffee dates back 600 years. the first cup of coffee is thought to have be

shawn: ambassador lighthizer is a busy man. he will be starting negotiations with the eu at some point soon. we know this is going to drag on a few more weeks. we know they are close to something, but the end game is always tricky. you do not want to predict when this is going to end. david: thanks so much. always great to have you on. let's go back to paris and annmarie hordern. we'll play a little bit of what president macron said last night. >> we will rebuild. we will rebuild notre dame because this is what the french expect. this is what our history deserves. it is our profound destiny. david: as we have said, this is a great tragedy for the french people, for all of western civilization. at the same time it comes against a tricky backdrop with the yellow vests and challenges resident macron had already -- president macron have already. idea how this will affect his stature as president of france? annemarie: many are hoping for this to be a chance for him to unite a divided country. what you heard emmanuel macron talk abou

bob lighthizer said there was only one tool he had and that was tariffs. we know donald trump likes tariffs. he said it again today. in the past, he has called himself a tariff man. he thinks they give him leverage, and they are very keen in the white house and this administration not to remove any of that leverage too soon to make sure china lives up to its promises in a deal when we get a deal. it's interesting if you consider how that is going to work with respect to tariffs. if our report this week proves to be correct and they get another six years in terms of compliance with regime, there's a question of what happens to him for stability during that period. >> absolutely. what of the ways we've been thinking about this trade negotiation is that it will somehow lead to a trade deal that is a classic trade deal. actually, this is an incredibly transactional negotiation. in some ways, we should be viewing this more as a legal settlement, the kind of thing you get enforced by a court when resolve theire to differences and lay out a timeline of milestones

and we can hopefully consummate a very good trade deal in the near future obviously, ambassador lighthizer is engaged in japan so for the trade issues continues to be paramount as we continue to bring down those barriers and seek expert opportunities and odyssey are undersecretary of foreign and service, ted mckinney, is circling the globe looking for new markets and we become too dependent on one large customer is willing throughout and no china and india and other places there that we may sell our products, as well. certainly, if a sector is important in ag and you all understand that in broadband particularly being almost the utility of the 21st century and we appreciate the funding you have given everett you want to do a proof concept that will make you proud over this six and a million-dollar appropriate last year as well as 550 this year and these abkhazians will begin being received here in a couple of weeks and there's been interest from all across the country there over broadband connectivity and it has influence and certainly precision agriculture as well as many other areas. reg

still in town, still wrapping trade talks with robert lighthizer and steven mnuchin. they had made progress yesterday, but speaking earlier today president trump said he would not predict an ultimate deal between the u.s. and china. he also signaled that when he does meet with president xi jinping, wherever that might be, it could be as soon as a few weeks, that it would be to finalize the deal. we know the u.s. and china are talking about china purchasing the commodities, enforcement mechanisms, including lifting some tariffs but keeping some on to ensure china continues on that front and to allow the u.s. to make purchases of chinese firms. to ourthanks so much chief washington correspondent kevin cirilli. it was not just china and jobs president trump was focused on. yesterday he threatened new tariffs on cars imported from mexico. he says it is a national emergency. >> we will give them a one-year and if the drugs do not stop, or largely stop, we will put tariffs on mexico and products, in particular cars. the whole ball game is cars. david: we welcome someone who

mnuchin andsteven robert lighthizer will be going to beijing next tuesday.ut the shouting? shawn: we have been in this end game for a while. we know they are getting close to something. we do not know when the end of the end game will come, but this is a great time when they are getting closer. we are also hearing a move to try to wrap this up, to get a draft deal done by the end of may. the hope is robert lighthizer and steven mnuchin in beijing next week will now down a few things. that will cause a return visit the week after i the chinese vice premier

i thought i saw trade representative and lighthizer give each other a bro hug.aybe it was just me. for more on potential chinese-u.s. deal, gordon chang, author of coming collapse of china. last time you were here. you are more skeptical, worried about things people not paying attention to, north korea's talks with china, for instance. let's start with there. have you changed and feel a little bit different because of the overtures? every single day the overtures are there. some people are reading a friendly greeting into a positive sign? >> i think they're close to a trade deal. people say they settled 90% of the points. we have to remember what they haven't settled, chars, are the enforcement mechanisms this is been the heart of the dispute from the beginning. i am willing to say they're close to a deal but there is a fundamental question. we have decades of failed trade agreements with china, so is the remedy another agreement? i don't think so. charles: ultimately we would have another agreement but a real agreement. world trade organization thing, almost ev

prior to the vice premiers meeting with trump, he's taking meetings with robert lighthizer and secretary mnuchin. a couple issues still being worked out, including further to be enforcement mechanisms, how much commodities china will purchase from the u.s. and as well as the potential for the u.s. to be able to have the opportunity to take ownership of chinese firms. all of this comes as that much-anticipated meeting. it is unclear whether or not we will hear directly from the president after that meeting, but it will likely -- because it is listed on the president schedule, there could be comments on the president schedule at 4:30 eastern time. david: to have any sense of what kind of paper we might see? will there be a joint agreement? the last time this happened president trump took don't -- took on his own trade representative saying i do not believe in memorandums of understanding. seen the have president not afraid to differentiate with his economic advisor or have a diverse opinion play out in the open. behind the scenes, according to sources i speak with who work with his adminis

he's sort of the robert lighthizer, the trade rep, for china, face-to-face with president trump.ere. stay tuned. we'll be right back. such a gre. yeah, have fun! thanks to you, we will. aw, stop. this is why voya helps reach today's goals... ...all while helping you to and through retirement. um, you guys are just going for a week, right? yeah! that's right. can you help with these? oh... um, we're more of the plan, invest and protect kind of help... sorry, little paws, so. but have fun! send a postcard! voya. helping you to and through retirement. ifor another 150 years. the fire going ♪ to inspire confidence through style. ♪ i'm working to make connections of a different kind. ♪ i'm working for beauty that begins with nature. ♪ to treat every car like i treat mine. ♪ at adp we're designing a better way to work, so you can achieve what you're working for. ♪ rather than worry about how to pay for long-term care. brighthouse smartcare℠ is a hybrid life insurance and long-term care product. it protects your family while providing long-term care coverage, should you need it. so you

>> he's certainly more of a tweeter than ambassador lighthizer is. he is optimistic on this.ighthizer last week he gave an interview on npr, he was very optimistic on that too. so the question is, whether maybe they're being a little too optimistic. cheryl: riley, thank you very much for getting up early. a lot to go through. it's a big week for u.s.-china trade. we're watching. thank you, sir. lauren: you have the relative optimism out there about the trade talks and you also have a lot of good data coming from china. so we ask, is the u.s. economy headed for a recession? investors might get a better idea this week. we have a lot of domestic data coming out on the economy and the health of the economy. jason barsima, the president of halo investing, he joins us now. are you optimistic? you call the economy sluggish, it feels sluggish right now. why is that? >> good morning. i do feel like it's slug i. sluggish. manufactures' been slowing down, inflation worries me. overall, when you look at the u.s. economy, we've been doing pretty well over the last 12 months but without in

>> why now i think robert lighthizer, the u.s. trade representative, is trying to shift the attention away from the u.s.-china discussions and towards u.s.-europe in a long-running battle between boeing and airbus i think airbus's response is fascinating. there are parallel rulings from the wto. one against airbus one against boeing there have been state roles in subsidyizing aircraft manufacturers on both sides of the atlantic for many, many years. many decades therefore, i think this plays. i mean, you need to see the context of what will play well with the base going into 2020 election. today you get news of the u.s. looking to impose tariffs on the e.u. they've labelled china a systemic rival are we in a situation where the e.u. has no friends either side of the world >> i think you are right to say there are threats emerging on both sides, but it would be interesting whether this is a strategic alliance here we think of some of the event that is have taken place over the last couple of years premier xi appearing in dave yoes

economy and i think it looks very clear for the next -- the next year over last 4 months ambassador lighthizer and intraagency team has done extraordinary job, we have made more progress than ever before. this is a real agreement, if we get to a completed agreement it would have real enforcement provisions. there's still some important issues. we still have more work to do, i think we spent a lot of time, we expect to have meetings this week, the vice premier will come with his team the following week. i think there's strong desire from both sides to see if we can wrap this up or move on. maria: wrap this up by when? >> well, again, we hope within the next 2 rounds of -- of in china and in dc to be at the point where we can either recommend to the president we have deal or make a recommendation that we don't. maria: what's most important to you, is it most important that china opens up markets to american companies, is it more important that they not steal ip, forced transfer of technology or they buy more stuff from the united states or that they stop espionage? >> well, maria, i think that t

robert lighthizer says there are still major issues to work out.ant tariffs gone never to return. the u.s. would like to keep tariffs to make sure china follows the agreement, sticks to the agreement. if the protections on intellectual property come through with this with enforcement this could be a landmark deal of our time. connell: wow, great reporting as always, edward lawrence. a little rain in washington. add one more point, secretary of state mike pompeo addressing the goal of the trade talks. this is what he said earlier today. >> mission that secretary mnuchin and ambassador lighthizer have to get the deal done in a way, after the signing ceremony, american companies can count on the fact they can do business in china without substantial risk their ip would be stolen and have a tool to recover any lost. connell: we have former assistant commerce secretary of manufacturing under president obama with us right now. that is kind of the question, right, nicole, is that the president may as an enforcement mechanism to edward's earlier point, kee

put wind in the sales of robert lighthizer going in to beijing next week.s is about the art of the deal and optics. leverage matter. when you have momentum, it helps. even aside from the q1 growth say in thewould aggregate, the u.s. has more momentum in the two decisions. one win for the the e.u. and one for the u.s., but both were losses for china, certainly helps lighthizer's position into next week. you can't understate the political importance of president trump. will be an important plank of the 2020 campaign. jude: yes and no. for most folks in america, it is the economy is stupid. things like a trade deal with the u.s. are going to be, a deal will be less important to issues that really matter for average voters than their liberal perspective. that being said, looking at a trump ispulist package trying to sell, the idea he has been able to secure the best the greatest deal against china is a feather in his populist cap. paul: jude blanchette, thanks for joining us. you can get a roundup of the stories you need to know to get going in today's edition

trade representative robert lighthizer head to china next week to resume talks.after that first week of may. maria: blank thank you so much blake burman latest, president trump not shy about economic successes, how media is reacting tweeting you i mean the stock market hit all-time high today and they are actually talk impeachment? will i ever be given credit for anything by the fake news media or rad carolina liberal dems no conclusion president writes exclusive fox business interview former presidential candidate herman cain thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, maria. maria: breaking news, of course, you are tapped by president nominated for a spot on federal reserve board you have pulled your consideration back, declining that, what led to the decision herman why did you do that? >> after i looked at all the factors involved took about a month collected all the information, the straw that broke the camel's back was a discussion that i had with two administration staffers who told me all the things that i could not do, if i became a federal reserve boar

steven mnuchin and robert lighthizer will fly to beijing next week. will go to what -- go to washington the week after. talks are going well. are not there yet, but we have made progress, further, scale, larger, broader than anything in the history of trade and that is a good ring. -- good thing. i don't want to make it forecast but we have gotten closer and we are working on the issues. reporter: new zealand going to cohost a world meeting with leaders on how to stop social media being used to promote violence. callwas the christchurch to eliminate extremist content on the internet. they will meet after a gunman killed 50 people in christchurch. north korean state news says kim jong-un has left on his private train for a meeting with president putin thursday. casey in a and russian media -- kcna and russian media say they will concentrate on kim's nuclear program. as follows the collapse of his second summit with president trump when they couldn't find agreement on disarmament. owns a printt media empire but he thinks the days are numbered for newspa

bob lighthizer is on it and we're moving hard and we'll see.eporter: chinese president xi xinping had a national address. in that address he said quote, we'll establish binding enforcement for international agreements. we'll protect intellectual property for companies. white house economic advisor larry kudlow say they're 95% done with a trade deal with china. he said that last 5% is very difficult to cross the finish line. charles: always is. no matter what trying to lose weight, that 5%, whatever it is, that last 5%, you hit heart break hill. edward, thank you very much appreciate it. reporter: thank you, charles. charles: a new story in "the washington post" says president trump's approach to the trade deals are at odds with chamber of commerce. lifetime support of course has always been for them to expand what they call free trade. according to a report the chamber says the gop has gone very far right, too far right. they want to be more centrist. here is discuss to fox news contributor liz peek, "wall street journal" editorial page editor

bob lighthizer put this together, i think it is the single best trade deal in american history, i mean that. i have been out there fighting for it. happy to talk about it in on your program. it is so totally pro-growth and pro entrepreneurship. it fits right in with all the other things that this administration is trying to do. i'm still playing it cautiously optimistic on the china trade. they are hard at it. david: china has all of the tensions between the china and the u.s. have caused a lot of problems, not just here, but around the world. if there is a china deal, what happens to the world economy? do we see -- how big a boom could we get from a good china deal? >> well, if it's a good deal, or to use the president's phrase, if it's a great deal, and if it's an enforceable deal, then yes, i think it's win-win, growth for everybody. it will help open up chinese economy. if they open up their economy, we will sell them a ton of goods. our export sales will soar. we are the most competitive economy in the world; right? so if they let us in, we'll have phenomenal export sales trading